Public and private sector representatives highlight benefits of public-private partnerships

At the European Development Days (EDD) 2019, Capacity4dev spoke to private and public sector representatives about the benefits of public-private partnerships (PPPs) to reach development objectives.

Innovative multi-stakeholder partnerships and financing models are a key component of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Using examples from Africa and South America, the industry experts explained how PPPs are improving the overall investment climate, while benefitting local communities through job creation, clean water and energy, community development and increased stability.

Maria Gonzalez Mata, Policy Officer at DG DEVCO, explained that in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a public-private partnership, the “Virunga Alliance” was created to protect the Virunga National Park and the people who live around it. 

The Virunga Alliance has a mandate from the Congolese Government to manage the park. In addition to protecting the biodiversity, the Alliance is creating hydro-electricity and employment around the Park. The programme has already led to the creation of 7,500 jobs and improved enabling conditions for businesses to work in and around the national park. 

“It is quite an ambitious and exciting venture, that could also provide some stability in a conflict region, giving hope to [the] very poor population of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” said Gonzalez Mata. “Those are the people who have benefitted the most, as the jobs have been given to the most vulnerable [of them].”  

According to Laura Atienza Urcelay, Policy Officer at DG DEVCO, public-private dialogues are necessary to reach development objectives and ensure sustainable investment in the long-term. Urcelay is in charge of the SB4A Platform, an initiative of the European Commission to support the establishment of such dialogues in Africa.

“At a global level, it has been acknowledged that we need to work more with the private sector to obtain development objectives,” she said, adding that SB4A was created with this objective in mind. “There are new financial instruments, but there is also a need to improve the investment climate of our partner countries, and we can do that with more public-private dialogue.” 

One of the mechanisms proposed by DEVCO to support public-private dialogue and private sector engagement is the Trade and Private Sector Development (TPSD) Facility. Team Leader Emmanuel Moyart explains how the facility provides support ‘to Headquarters, with everything that has to do with the dissemination of the policy (…) but importantly what we do is support to the EU Delegations in country to actually understand and implement (…) these public private dialogues.’  

Another example of an innovative partnership is the work of the Zabala Innovation Consulting S.A. in Colombia. According to Mikel Berraondo, Director of Social Innovation, the organisation works to promote development in the north of the country and create dialogue spaces between different groups, including indigenous organisations, the Colombian government, municipalities and the oil company Repsol. 

“We are trying to promote projects with young people to [enable] them to create small companies and get all of the solar panels working,’ said Berraondo. “I think that everyone is benefitting from these kinds of projects, but especially the communities – that is the main reason we do it, but in the end, I think that all of the actors are benefitting in one way or another.”